Guides to the "Osobyi" Archives in Moscow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

[Richard T Eger]

The following comes from H-German via Jaap Woortman:

Sources on Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe/Osoby Archives (February 1996)

Submitted by: David Grier (dgrier@sunbelt.net)

A friend (who is at a college not yet on-line) is working on the Volkssturm, the "last reserves" of males between the ages of 16 and 60 the Germans mobilized
in the final months of World War II. He is planning a research trip to Germany this summer and he has two questions I hope someone can help with:

1.Where are Nazi Party files, and records of related organizations (such as the Hitler Youth, SA, Reich Labor Service), from areas that were formerly part
of the Reich but now in Poland or Russia (for example, Breslau, Stettin and Koenigsberg)? Would they be in city archives, district archives, national
archives or elsewhere?
2.Does anyone know the whereabouts of documents of Wehrmacht units (only those which fought in former Reich territories) captured by Soviet forces
and their allies?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

David Grier, Erskine College

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Submitted by: Francis R. Nicosia (NICOSIA@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU)

The Center for the Preservation of Historical Documentary Collections, also known as the "Osobyi" Archive, in Moscow is a logical place to look. Its collection
of captured German records is enormous. There are published guides in German and English. A good place to start before going to Moscow is the United
States Holocaust Research Institute (Archives) at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The Institute filmed a good deal of the Moscow
collection that pertains to the persecution of Jews, Gypsies, etc. and to the final solution. These are in RG 11. They also have the guides to the "Osobyi" Archive
in Moscow. Good luck.

Francis R. Nicosia
Saint Michael's College, Vermont

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[editor's note: after H-German received the first item below requesting further information about the Osobyi archives, we contacted Francis Nicosia
and Sybil Milton for further information. Their responses follow the query. d.r.]

1)

Submitted by: John Bingham (bclow@macc.wisc.edu)

Would it be possible to post more exact bibliographical references for the English/German archival guides published by the Moscow Center for the Preservation
of Historical Documentary Collections (Osobyi archive)?

Thank you,

John Bingham (bclow@macc.wisc.edu)
History Department
York University
Toronto, Canada
M3J 1P3
(608) 257-0215

2)

Submitted by: Francis Nicosia (NICOSIA@SMCVAX.SMCVT.EDU)

The two guides I have used are: the un-published list, or "Fond Registration Book/Main Index", compiled by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
itself (in English), I believe during the microfilming process in Moscow; and the guide (in German) published in Der Archivar, Jg. 45, 1992, H.3, pp. 457-468.
In also appears (in English) with helpful advice in George Browder's piece in Central European History, vol. 24, 1991, pp. 424-443. Besides George
Browder, one should consult Sybil Milton and the staff at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (Research Institute) for more advice on captured German
records in this as well as other archives in the former USSR. Best of luck.

F. Nicosia
Saint Michael's College, Vermont

3)

Submitted by: Sybil Milton (smilton@ushmm.org)

In re: Submission by David Grier:

There are copious records of the Nazi party, SA, etc. in Abt. III, Berlin Document Center Aussenstelle of the Bundesarchiv. The address is the same as before.
The files at BDC/now Abt. III of the Bundesarchiv in Berlin includes personnel records of the SS, SA, Nazi party, and other affiliated agencies.

Materials for Breslau, Stettin, and Koenigsberg are in part held in the records at the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Berlin-Dahlem. This institution has on occasion been
slow to reluctan